Animals Speak to Me in Dreams

Especially since I began spending more time at Social Tees shelter over the past few months, my dreams are often filled with animals and sometimes animals I know or have known visit me in dreams. My own cat Garbanzo sometimes inhabits these dreams.

One particularly moving experience which I had recently:

There was a Russian blue cat which we had in the shelter whose health suddenly took a mysterious nose dive, her primary symptom being very labored breathing, which told us we needed to get her to the vet. Unfortunately the vet found that she had congestive heart failure and massive cancer inside her body, so they needed to euthanize her. I was very sad for this cat in so many ways - sad that her owners had given her up, probably knowing that she was very sick, sad that the cat must have felt so alone. She had such a very sweet, friendly personality, despite whatever difficulties she had been through.

The night following her passing, she came to me as I was half-asleep, though she came to me as a fuzzy little kitten, but with the same sweet face. She was surrounded with an aura of light. She told me that she was happy and free now, and not to worry. Then she scampered back off into the light. I send thanks to her so much for visiting me from the other side to tell me this. Animals can teach us so much about life, about being in the moment and about treasuring each moment, whether here or in the spirit world.

The Journey of Justin/Georgi

There is a little Russian Blue cat who we have been calling Justin, who arrived a couple of months ago. This little guy has been through a lot! He was kind of shy when we got him, then came down with a very serious cold so he had to go to the vet for a couple of weeks to recuperate. When he came back, he had healed from his cold but the poor little guy was terrified like we had never seen him be before. The first couple of days, he was making little whimpering sounds and breathing quickly. He looked like the picture below, with ears back and would hiss if you tried to approach him. I would speak to him softly and offer him some Reiki.

After some days, he finally started looking more relaxed, like the picture below. He still was afraid for me to touch him, but I was little by little working up to being able to simply approach his cage and open the door without him hissing and/or going to the back of the cage. Each day, he started to come out of his shell a little more, to where he would hang out in the front of his cage with a paw out when I was doing TTouch on cats on either side of him. Though he still would be afraid for me to touch him directly, he seemed to seek the indirect contact and calming energy of the TTouch that I was doing nearby.

A couple of days ago, my friend Eileen Garfinkel, who is a wonderful animal communicator, came to the shelter. She spent a lot of time talking to Justin, who she found out would like to be called Georgi, so Georgi it is. Apparently he was handled very roughly when he went to the vet, which traumatized him greatly. He is not afraid of me but is afraid of men in general as he fears they will handle him roughly. He misses a cat companion who he had previously also. Eileen really sent him a lot of love. She came back a second day this week, and we have all noticed Georgi really start to come around. Eileen was able to reach this dear guy in a way which I was not able to, and I appreciate her work so much. She also spent time with another special cat at the shelter but I will talk about that another time. Below you see Georgi looking very handsome and much more relaxed. He told her he would like a ball in his cage to bat around, and she brought that the second time she came and he loves it. We all wish Georgi continued progress and, soon, a loving forever home. Thanks so much Eileen! Please visit her website, dreamsofamelia.com. I look forward to further visits from her at the shelter. I think she and I work very well together with the cats, and I feel that TTouch, reiki and animal communication can be such a powerful combination.

Surprising Moments and Quiet Breakthroughs

A while back at Social Tees (http://socialtees.com) I had tried working on the lovely calico cat above (this picture is from several weeks ago), with limited success. She was just so afraid. First I did some air touches with the wand with an ace bandage wrapped around the end, keeping about 6 inches away from her body. This seemed to be calming for a few sessions with her, but eventually she decided she did not like the wand and swatted at it, hissing etc. I decided to leave her alone and did some Reiki on her for several sessions, which I had been advised was a good idea by my friend, animal communicator Eileen Garfinkel (http://dreamsofamelia.com). She still often lies with her head towards the back of the cage but sometimes started facing forward, and I began to open the cage and talk to her, without touching her. Finally I just went ahead and did some TTouch on her head with my hand, which she was fine with for a short while. I told Robert at Social Tees what had happened, and this was the funny moment - he said he had been petting her already. I think I had been afraid to even try for a while because of her body language. Anyway, the same day I went back and tried some more, and she began to purr. On subsequent days, I have been able to do short sessions with her, simply doing TTouch on her head and ears, as she still gets over-stimulated and will start to swat. I look forward to working on her more.



The little grey tabby darling above is a kitty I have been working on patiently, gradually and quietly, and yesterday she came more fully out of her shell than I have ever seen.
She has been reluctant about eating so I brought some tasty wet food for her to try, and she was very happy about munching away on that. As she came forward to eat, I began doing Noah's march with the back of my hand, gentle zigzags and chimp touches on her body. She responded very well to these, which I did all with a very light pressure. Then I took a jelly scrubber, which is often used for doing TTouch, and used it to brush her. As she is a kitten, her fur is quite short and close to the skin, so the rubber brush was perfect for her and she responded very well to it. I was able to get a lot of loose hair off her, which I think helped her feel more confident as well. I gave her a break and then came back to her several times during my session at Social Tees yesterday, working on her little by little. She looked very comfortable and stayed at the front of the cage for the rest of the day while I was there. I am crossing my fingers and hoping this was one of those lovely types of breakthroughs when the cat stays out of its shell - which tells me they are feeling more confident and comfortable, and increases their chances of adoption as well. Here's hoping!

Dog (and Cat) Days at Social Tees

When I got to Social Tees on Monday, I was greeted by a group of lively dogs, all eager to play. Some new ones had arrived over the weekend. I will have to try to get some pictures of the new ones soon - it was a bit difficult at the time as they are in motion a lot of the time. Above is Mama (right) with one of the other dogs. Mama is blind, and is a very wonderful dog.

When I went to the back, the grey cat who had been sitting in his litter box since he first came in about a week ago was sitting in the front of the cage. I was so excited to see him there. He seemed to have broken out from his initial fear and was really craving attention - so much so that he was over-stimulated and began to try to swat after I just did a few touches on him. I went back to Social Tees today, and again he was in the front of the cage and this time he called out to me to pay attention to him. This time, I used the wand with the corn dog (ace bandage) on the end to do circles and strokes on him. This eventually brought his energy level down to the point where he was able to enjoy the touch without his energy getting too riled up. It felt as though he needed to learn how to react to being touched, as though it was a new sensation. I look forward to working on him again soon, it has been such an interesting adventure with him so far.

Yesterday and today I also worked on the orange, long-haired cat who is shy. Yesterday I primarily did TTouch on her head with the wand and corn dog, and a bit on her body. Today I was able to do more circles and strokes on her body than I had been able to do before. I started to try to work up to using my hand on her but as she started to pull away, I just touched her w/the wand. I feel sure that I will work up to contact with my hand in time.


There is also a lovely striped cat, pictured below, who is very frightened. Yesterday I did circles and strokes on her head w/the wand and corn dog. I tried to work my way up to touching her with my hand, but she gave me a swat to tell me she was not ready. Today when I went back, I just settled on using the wand and corn dog on her. She is very comfortable with circles and strokes on her head but becomes frightened and reactive when I start to touch her body with the wand, so I just focused on strokes and circles on the top of her head, along her ears and under her chin. A while after I finished doing this, I looked in her cage and she looked more comfortable. She was resting with her head on her front paws and almost looked like she was smiling at me. I feel so much gratitude from these animals!



I have also continued to work on the young tabby who I mentioned before. He is named "Ranger", as he prefers not to be with other cats (as in the "Lone Ranger"). He has become more and more receptive to touch over the past few days, and almost right away begins to rub her body against my hand. Yesterday before I left I noticed that his stool was loose, so today I made sure to do ear strokes, which can help digestion, as well as some little belly lifts. He really responded to the belly lifts and acted as though he wanted me to do more. When I left today, he was sitting in the front of his cage, which is very new for him.

I also had a lovely breakthrough with one of the quartet of timid black and white kittens. Yesterday the most fearful of them turned a corner and suddenly was purring and rubbing his body against my hand, then coming forward to seek more TTouch. Today when I left, he was sitting right in the front of the cage.

Over the weekend, I went to a psychic fair where I saw my friend Eileen Garfinkel, who is a wonderful animal communicator http://dreamsofamelia.com/. She did several readings for me which were all quite helpful. One of the cats I asked her to speak to was the calico cat at Social Tees who I have had a very difficult time reaching, as she is so extremely fearful. She advised me that this cat would be able to accept distant Reiki, so I will try this and it will be interesting to see what happens.